A survey conducted by ACA Research, on behalf of AfMA, AGL and the NSW Government, to check on the journey to electrification by Australian fleets found it will be business as usual for most fleets with only 8% of the respondents planning to reduce their fleet due to the impacts of COVID.
When FAN took a closer look at the results by industry and organisation size, there were some big differences in how fleets will be responding to the pandemic.
Federal, State and Local Governments are expected to maintain fleet sizes with some still unsure of how the disruptions in 2020 will impact their operations. A small percentage of government respondents (3-4%) indicated their fleet size would decrease while 6% of Local Government participants indicated an increase in fleet numbers was expected.
The response from Service Industries reflects the impact of lockdowns and state border closures. 21% of fleets in this segment indicated they would reduce vehicle numbers and only 32% expected it to be business as usual compared to the study average of 53%.
Across all industries there was still a level of uncertainty with 11% of companies saying they don’t know how COVID would change their fleet purchasing decisions in 2021. Though organisations with 100-499 employees seemed to be the most prepared to deal with any impacts by having plans in place to adjust their fleet size, or watch and wait before making any significant decisions.
Regardless of the plans fleets may have, new vehicle supply is the looming issue that may dictate any changeover plans in 2021.
Click here to download a copy of the research from the AfMA website.
